Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters What are the flattest shooting Big Game rounds around to 500 yards

The 270 with a 110 gr bullet pushes over 3500 fps and is a great non magnum flat shooting load


Trystan

................Read your last post as well....................Because you have gotten and will get different answers, the only real way to truly discover the answer to your question is to go through the daunting task (lol) of getting comfortable and then settling onto a downrange ballistics table which is what you are trying to avoid. Yup...Alot of work and research. You are going to have to see the downrange #s on a graph for proper comparisons.

Imo, the following should be on the list, not only out to 500 yards but beyond 500 as well for better retained velocities, energy and trajectories. The faster 6.5s with great bullet BCs and better resistance to wind drifts are a good place to start, then followed by a fast 270, the fast 7s and then the fastest 30s. Then it becomes a matter of recoil tolerance, expense etc and etc.

Tops in the 6.5 mm dept are the 6.5/300 Weatherby followed by the 26 Nosler...........In the 270 dept, the 270 Wby reigns supreme. In the 7mm dept; the 28 Nosler, 7 RUM/STW, 7mm Wby.........For the 30s; 30-378 Wby, 300 RUM, 300 Wby.

So you compare all of the above and then take the best 6.5, the 270 Wby, the top 7 and the top 30 and then compare them on a graph using the hunting bullets of varying bullet weights with the best BCs that each offer and then see how they compare to the 257 Wby.

Then you will have your true and correct answer rather than relying on opinion.

There's always the favored 50 BMG necked down to 6.5 -- AI of course.

to be honest when I build a rifle and use it to hunt with and do kinda think and use this for my answer too ? what caliber is fast and flat and can I buy shells someplace if I loose,run out or forget my shells at home ? then it just goes back to a Remington 7 mag that I do not use,plain jane 270 winchester or just my trusty old 257 weatherby mag and my vote will be for me 257 weatherby mag and even this cartridge might be hard to find at a store ?

270 Weatherby

I don't recommend pulling off a snap shot at animals over 400, even with some behemoth overbore. Seems like an opportunity for a rodeo. Long shots require a precision that takes a few breaths and more than a few seconds to get right.

WHAT ABOUT THE 270 WSM

BC and speed. Find the bullet (for the intended game) with the best BC and match it to a case that breathes the most fire. I'm not a magnum fan for the shooting or hunting that I do....especially when putting a lot of lead down range....but if you want flattest then BC and speed.

These days with Reloder 26 the 270 win equals the wsm. The Weatherby might be a better choice but squeaking out the last bit of velocity really isn't the answer. Personally, it would have to be a chambering that works well put of a 22" or shorter barrel. That eliminates many. What about a .280 Rem ?

I knew a guy that had a wildcat round, it was a .25/300 Weatherby. That thing should have been flat.

257 Weatherby, the 7 STW and those Lazzeroni? Rounds. I wonder what ever happened to his line of rifles and cartridges, we don't hear much about them anymore.

I just shot an antelope at 470 with my 257 Wby and it was DRT full penetration with a 100 gr. TSX. My buddy said he saw a puff of hair and then feet in the air.

17-50BMG, duh.

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I don't recommend pulling off a snap shot at animals over 400, even with some behemoth overbore. Seems like an opportunity for a rodeo. Long shots require a precision that takes a few breaths and more than a few seconds to get right.[/quote]

I agree and I usually can pre-range a marker at 350 or 400 and that is my limit unless I can stop the buck and settle in to the shot. Tough passing on a twelve pointer within your scope but the cross hairs just didn't settle in enough to be sure. Basically what has worked and I probably should stick with it is any bullet with a 400+ BC and around 3200 fps.
The 25-06, 270 WSM, 280AI, 7RM & 300WM all do this with my loads. Working up R26 loads for the 243 and 6AI that should fit the bill with 95-110 grain bullets.

Yeah, after digging a bit, I stand by the 6.5-300 Wby and the 30-378 Wby for flattest-shooting to 500 in factory cartridges. I don't know why one would want either for Texas deer, but it's not my money.

A super-fast 22 cal twisted at 7 to 8 and shooting 68-75gr would not be amiss for said use either. A 22-250 Ackley or 22-308 (Cheetah?) or Swift would be pretty flat, with low recoil.

A wildcat 6 on a magnum case would shoot damn flat, and spun for 105's, it would be quite effective. A twist to stabilize the 115's would give you a LR sweetie.

Tejano,
You said it best, "Most of this is mental masturbation and and excuse for another rifle." I'm about to pull the trigger on a lever action 45-70. This rifle is the exact opposite of what I shoot seemingly daily (I'm a LR guy). However, lever actions have a special place in my heart. Ballistics suck, it meets none of my shooting needs, and has almost no utility. Will I buy it? Yep. It might get looked at more than shot, but emotion and nostalgia can trump utility. At the end of the day, I'll be happy to have a 45-70 in the safe. You only have to please yourself.

22-284
243 Catbird
257 STW
Scramjet
270 STW
27 Nosler
Firebird
Warbird

Lots of very "flat" cartridge choices out there...

26 Nosler or 6.5 Weatherby can push a 100 or 108 grain Scenar 4000fps+. The BC is .425 - .454. 1.8" high at about 180yds (100 and 300yd zero) and 5" low AND STILL doing 3000fps+ at 400yds

Damn.......

A hunting partner was using a guide gun in a stand near me, he miscalculated the range and the bullet hit at the deer's feet. 400 yards instead of the 300 he thought. A 45-70 would be great for walking around but the brush is so thick one jump and the deer is safe. If I had access for the entire season a 45-70 would be a lot of fun to hunt with but if I really want to harvest a deer it would be too limiting. We only get to hunt 4-8 days at this place typically due to our schedules.

Another reason for wanting a fast but maybe not the fastest cartridge is most of the deer will be moving at a fast walk to a run. Very hard for me to add lead, hold over and wind simultaneously. Typically I will aim as far forward as possible but still on the vitals. Hits then can be anywhere from point of aim to a couple of ribs back if the deer is moving fast. This has worked so far with only one shot hitting on the wrong side of the diafram. Actually the shot was ok it was shrapnel and secondary projectiles that broke the diafram.

When I really think about it the super boomers may only gain me 20-50 yards over the mediums I shoot now and may encourage me to take riskier shots so could be counter productive. The 6AI may be the one and hold off on anything past about 375 unless stationary.

I think you are just fine with your current rounds/loads. Odds are, you will end up killing deer at much closer ranges than you will "get opportunity" for further out! I love the .257 Weatherby, but the 25-06 gives up very little to it, as you know. I knew some 25-06 shooters in Texas ( years ago) and they all used the 87gr Hornady spire point. I had a 6mm/284 set up with the 90 NBT one year. I shot "at" an antelope doe at a lasered 527yds away. I was prone, I knew where to hold from practice, but that wind! She couldn't tell where the shots were coming from so just stood there I I shot 5 times! The wind blew it left/right/over her/under her! I quit before I gut shot the poor thing. I then drove around to a little secret valley I knew of on that ranch and popped one at 150yds! "Resist" the money pit of trying beat what you already have...all top flight rounds in their own right! ha